Finite time moving target tracking using nonholonomic vehicles with distance and bearing angle constraints

This paper presents a novel nonlinear control scheme for finite time tracking of a moving target using nonholonomic ground vehicles, where the distance and bearing angle of the target with respect to the vehicles are constrained. A generalized tan-type Barrier Lyapunov Function is proposed and incorporated with the control laws to deal with the non-symmetric distance and bearing angle constraints. For the target tracking implementation, relative position of the target is the only measured signal and no additional sensor information is required. Stability and performance analyses indicate that convergence of the tracking error to the neighbourhood of zero can be achieved in finite time, while the distance and bearing angle remain within the constraints. Further simulation has been performed using one target and two unmanned ground vehicles to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method.